How woeful is it for RI GOP?

1. Dan Yorke is making a plausible case that the party, because of its utter incompetence, should cease operations for about 12 or 18 months.

2. AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer George Nee, a Democratic stalwart, recognizes the state GOP is so feeble that he cites to the ProJo the (theoretical) importance of a competitive two-party system.

[Nee] said the dominance of one party “is terrible for the state.”

“I think a viable competitive two-party system is good for everybody. It makes people have to work hard and it makes people really have to consult with their constituents; nobody gets complacent,” he said.

3. A state GOP official, when local TV sought assistance in covering the party's election watch at Ruth's Chris Steak House, responded by saying the event wasn't being staged for the media.

4. The party uses questionable off-point tactics that undercut its attempts to be a credible opposition. From the same ProJo story cited above:

One mailer distributed by the state Republican Party featured a picture of [Teresa] Paiva Weed in a black straitjacket, chained at the arms and ankles, a muzzle covering her mouth.

“Newport can’t afford a muzzled state senator,” read the advertisement, referring to the majority leader’s regular recusal in votes related to the Aquidneck Island gambling facility, Newport Grand; her law firm represents the slot parlor.

AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer George Nee blasted the Republican mailers as “despicable” and “crossing the line.”

“They’re pathetic,” Nee said of the state GOP. “They’re an embarrassment to what was a respected and viable Republican Party. The trash that they’re putting out is just over the top.”